UPDATED, Tuesday 3 p.m.: For the second day in a row, Republican lawmakers attempted and failed to defund efforts to advance the Clean Power Plan in Colorado. But the money for the state’s air pollution division remains in jeopardy.

The latest came Tuesday when the Senate considered a supplemental budget bill for the Department of Public Health and Environment. Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling, proposed a $200,000 cut from department’s budget based on estimates from the agency about how much it will spend on the Clean Power Plan efforts.

Sonnenberg called the effort part of the legislature’s responsibility as a check on the governor’s power and drew support from Sen. Tim Neville, a Littleton Republican who is running for U.S. Senate.

“Folks we have a problem in Colorado. We have a federal government that is out of control, and we have a state government that is (contributing to) that lack of control,” he said.

The effort died on a voice vote with a number of Republicans opposed.

A day earlier, state Rep. Bob Rankin, R-Carbondale, tried a similar move in the Joint Budget Committee, on Monday when he sought to cut $212,000 from the agency’s fiscal year 2016-2017 budget that would eliminate 2.4 full-time equivalent positions in the executive director’s office.

Rankin said his Western Slope district is “terrified of this” and expressed frustration that the Hickenlooper administration did not give him more information about the work that is ongoing.

“This is a motion I feel is very important to limit the amount of fear that western Colorado feels because of our proceeding in this direction,” he said.

His remarks sparked a sharp political debate, as fellow budget writer Sen. Pat Steadman, D-Denver, voiced an ardent defense of the Clean Power Plan rules.

“I’m not afraid of clean air. I want clean air,” Steadman said. He added, “Clean Power is our future and dirty power is our past.”

“Just because we don’t like the Clean Power Plan, I don’t know why we have to be subtracting money from the department because they did work on it,” he added. “Clean air is their job.”

The motion to cut the money and positions from next year’s budget failed on a party line, 3-3 vote.

But a second effort by Democrats to pay for operations in the Air Pollution Control Division also failed on a 3-3 vote — meaning the division is not funded for the fiscal year that starts July 1.

To include an item in the state budget bill, it requires a majority vote on a committee with three Democrats and three Republicans.

Environmental advocates estimate the cuts to the stationary sources subdivision — which covers climate, oil and gas, compliance and enforcement operations — total about $8.5 million and the equivalent of 96 staffers.

Hickenlooper’s administration estimates 10 division staffers spent about 2,400 hours on the Clean Power Plan implementation before the Feb. 9 judicial stay, or roughly about $112,000.

The division maintains that its regular air pollution control work aligns closely with the Clean Power Plan and it’s difficult to separate the work on Obama’s proposed regulations and its ongoing clean air monitoring.

Whether lawmakers will compromise on the measure — or risk eliminating an entire agency division — remains one of the top unresolved questions in this budget cycle.

No, for many, regardless of party affiliation or lack thereof, the environment is important enough that it actually is the point. Appearantly, for some, party lines are the only lens throug which they view the world.

Pabon’s name has not been mentioned on this blog, “The Spot for Politics and Policy.”

I compare this to the time Republican lady from Grand Junction in Colorado House leadership, was picked up for a DUI. The Spot had story after story on her situation, until she resigned. They got rid of her promptly. She was a Republican, that was the difference.

In case you missed it, Pabon was picked up for DUI on St. Patrick’s Day.

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.